People

Mama

Mama (aka Vickie, Mommy Q, Mama Kabuke, and Bugga) has been the heart and soul of our projects since at least 2006. The first version of the Nomad tent was sewn entirely in her hallway. She dyed the second Nomad tent in garbage cans in her backyard. Connie the Baby Blue Whale was created in her driveway, from prototype all the way through final build. Her mailman Patrick still asks what we’re up to now. Vickie’s love for cooking and serving the masses inspired the G Spot project. Vickie lives in San Jose, California.

Jordi

Jordi MacFife is the head of the group. He comes up with these crazy ideas and generally finds a way to make them happen. After a few art projects, the desire to move on to bigger and more complicated projects pushed him into a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He’s currently finishing up school at Portland State, and works in the engineering department at Daimler Trucks. jordimacfife.com

Nathan

Nathan is the foreman of the group. Jordi imagines and complicates, and Nathan actually gets it done. Nathan has a brilliant mind for creative problem solving. Whatever the challenge, he’ll find a way to get it done. In his youth Nathan turned a small company making small airplanes into a full-blown manufacturing operation. Nathan’s hands built most of what you see on the G Spot, both inside and out.

Vinny

Vinny makes things work. The plumbing and wiring on the bus were done almost entirely by Vinny. He clearly has the best work ethic of the entire group. He’s an amazing troubleshooter as well, diagnosing and fixing everything from electrical shorts to engine oil leaks ridiculously quickly. Vinny works as a pipe fitter installing fire suppression sprinklers.

Jack

Jack brings a huge depth of experience in construction. He’s the craftsman of the group – anything he does ends up looking perfect and professional. Jack just finished a Mechanical Engineering degree from Portland State.

Dan

Dan

Dan is our best business mind. So many of us are builders, it makes a big difference to have someone around who can see the bigger picture. On the actual G Spot build Dan was one of the most consistent workers and certainly the most patient.

Bobo

Bobo, aka Stephen is also a Mechanical Engineering student at Portland State. (Yes, there are a lot. Jordi recruited from his school program pretty heavily.) Stephen has massive experience doing fabrication and maintenance, including working as a handyman for a whole winter at the South Pole. Stephen is our surgeon – he can go into a system he’s never seen before, make sense of it, and get it working again with spectacular speed and dexterity. He is also just a beautiful human being all the way through.

Sara

Sara is another Mechanical Engineering student at Portland State. She was our Solidworks driver on the project and handled all of the 3D printing. Her love for cooking meant that she quickly became the ambassador for the cooking team on the Portland build crew. (None of the other cooks are based in Portland.)

Harmony

Harmony is another Portland State Mechanical Engineering student. She designed the HVAC systems in the bus (vent fan, vent hood, swamp cooler, filtration, and ducting). She is currently working an internship at the Port of Portland and will graduate in 2018.